A Rare Glimpse Within Kat Von D's Massive Gothic Mansion

Tattoo artist Kat Von D has made a big name for herself over the years — and her style is a big part of her appeal. In fact she has a fondness for the elaborate, whether that’s in her choice of clothes, makeup, or, of course, her inkwork. Maybe one of the clearest indications of her unique tastes can be found in the way that she’s decorated her massive mansion. And we have some pictures affording us a peek inside...

Claim to fame

This enormous property — which stands in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Windsor Square — had a claim to fame long before Von D ever moved in. Constructed all the way back in 1896 the building would later be seen on film in 2003. That was when it showed up in the Steve Martin remake of Cheaper by the Dozen.

Enormous place

The property is a noteworthy sight, and a location entirely appropriate for the setting of a Hollywood movie. It stands at three stories on a plot of land stretching out over 27,000 square feet. Inside, according to website Insider, are 11 bedrooms, eight bathrooms, and a bunch of other insane features. Website TMZ, meanwhile, reports that there are 13 bedrooms and ten bathrooms. Whichever claim you believe, we can safely say the property is enormous.

Leaving her mark

Von D bought the mansion in 2016 and keen to leave her mark on the place, she got to work right away. At great expense she arranged a bunch of renovations, which gradually shaped the house into her own style. By the time she was finished with it, it looked completely different from the way it had in Cheaper by the Dozen.

Dream home

Today, the mansion is a horror-movie fan’s dream home. Littered with stained-glass windows, hidden passageways and bars, and dark, creepy paneling, the house certainly suits Von D’s general vibe. But this is to say nothing of its weirder features. The pièce de résistance, it’s fair to say, is the swimming pool, which is unlike any other.

Sticking to her guns

Of course, Von D wouldn’t have it any other way. She’s attracted a fair amount of controversy throughout her life and career, but she’s always stuck to her guns. Bearing that in mind, her home was never going to conform to other people’s notions of what might constitute the heights of good taste.

Early days

Von D’s real name is Katherine Von Drachenberg, and she arrived into the world in 1982. She was born in Mexico, but her parents René and Sylvia decided to up sticks and make the move to the United States. There, her dad was hoping to find a job as a doctor.

Tough start

Reflecting on her start to life in Mexico in a piece for website Popsugar, Von D explained that things had been tough. Back then, her house “didn’t have electricity or running water for a long time.” She used to bathe with water from a bucket and the flooring of her home was little more than “packed dirt.”

New life

But when Von D was just six years of age, it was time to leave Mexico and make a new life in America. Her parents took her to California, where they all settled in a place called Loma Linda. Here, the family met other people who belonged to the same church they did.

Theatrics and drama

By her adolescent years, Von D had really got into makeup. For her, it was a means of self-expression, as she explained to website Dazed Digital in 2019. In her own words, she “fell in love with the theatrics and drama of makeup,” with cosmetics serving as an “outward expression of whatever it was that was going on inside.”

Music, music, music!

Speaking of her other interests and passions around this time, Von D told Dazed, “I was inspired by music, music, music! I remember once I discovered punk-rock music, it wasn’t necessarily a style that I was emulating, but I subscribed more to the feeling of being free... That’s what really shaped my style.”

Starting young

Von D found tattooing at a very young age — she was only 14 when she started doing it! Her first design was a skull, and she inked it onto a friend’s skin using some very basic equipment. At her disposal she had a guitar string and a cassette-player motor, but it was enough to do the job and inspire a passion. By the time she was 16, she’d left school to become a professional tattoo artist.

"Kind of scary"

Von D’s mom and dad supported their daughter in her endeavors, but they were nervous all the same. As Von D told PR.com in 2008, “I think when I started getting tattoos it was really scary for them, and you know, I had a Mohawk and I was 14 when I stopped going to school. My dad’s a doctor and they were missionaries for the church. It was kind of scary for them.”

A star is born

Von D’s determination to make it as a tattooist was eventually vindicated, though, when her skills landed her a part on Miami Ink. This was a reality show on TLC, which followed the comings and goings of a tattoo parlor and its workers. Von D was a late addition to the cast.

Not all smooth sailing

Von D was actually a little reluctant to join the show at first. She thought the concept seemed dull, but she was ultimately convinced to become the first girl in the cast. When she got there, though, tensions emerged between her and some co-stars, which eventually led her to quit after just a couple of seasons.

Moving on

Von D felt no need to mourn, though, as she instantly got picked up for her own series called L.A. Ink. She felt this spin-off was far superior to the show she’d just left, which she was happy to talk about publicly. Speaking to Inked Magazine about the show where she’d gotten her break, she slammed it as “monotonous and repetitive.”

An open book

Von D went on, “The guys weren’t willing to involve their real life in the show, whereas I promised myself, aside from my divorce, I would talk about anything. People can relate to you more when you’re real and show your imperfections. I’m an open book. Our show is more rock ’n’ roll and honest.”

Her own ink

Viewers of Von D’s show surely couldn’t help but notice her own tattoos. She has plenty of them, and she’s spoken about them in public. In 2008 she told PR.com, “I didn’t [get tattoos] as an attention-seeking act of rebelling. It was more, ‘I actually just like this and I want to get tattooed, and I want it so much that I don’t care if other people treat me differently.’”

A big range

Von D started out by giving herself these tattoos, but eventually she started getting other artists to do their thing. She has an awful lot of them now, including stars on her face, the initials of Beethoven, and pictures of her mother and her sibling. She also has a bunch of flowers and references to ex-lovers.

  Moving into cosmetics

Aside from her tattoos, Von D is also known from her ventures into the cosmetics industry. She launched her own line in 2008 which initially offered a fairly limited array of products. At that time she was peddling six types of eyeliner, four lipsticks, and a pair of eye-shadow palettes. But that was just the beginning.

YouTuber fans

Von D’s line quickly proved to be very popular among her own fans. Later, though, famous YouTubers such as Tati Westbrook, NikkieTutorials, and Manny MUA all encountered her products and made videos about them. That really helped to bring Von D’s stuff to a lot more people.

Big seller

It wasn’t just the quality of the makeup itself that brought Von D such success. A lot of detail went into the packaging, too, plus the products were often launched in unusual ways. All of these factors combined with her personal celebrity to ensure her line became a big, big seller.

Millionaire

Thanks to these business ventures and more, Von D has amassed a fortune worth many millions. With such riches at her disposal, she’s naturally invested quite a bit of money in some extravagant property. And houses don’t come much more excessive and lavish than the Cheaper by the Dozen mansion she bought.

The Van Nuys mansion

As previously noted the enormous property dates all the way back to the end of the 19th century, when it was constructed for businessman Isaac Newton Van Nuys. It was passed through the generations — appearing on the silver screen in 2003 — before eventually falling into Von D’s ownership in 2016. She shelled out $6.5 million for it, but also pumped more into renovations after the initial purchase.

Decorated to her taste

The house eventually came to be shaped and decorated to Von D’s taste. Take the “grand lounge.” In here we have walls painted green and adorned with golden embellishments. Designs have been painted onto the ceiling, and a big mirror has been placed over a grandiose fireplace. It looks as though it’s been transplanted from a lavish European stately home dating back hundreds of years.

The French Ballroom

Next, we have the living area, which, yes, is a different room entirely to the lounge. This space is so posh that it even has a title all of its own: it’s called the “French Ballroom.” Dark wood is everywhere inside here, plus a fireplace made of marble, a chandelier, and a bunch of fancy seats.

The library

Then we have the library, which is fairly in keeping with the decor of the French Ballroom. Naturally, there are tall bookshelves and a desk — everything you’d expect from a library — plus a couple of big mirrors, another fireplace, and a big fancy rug. The curtains are luscious green velvet, while the other furnishings are just as opulent.

The dining area

Given everything we’ve seen so far, it should come as no surprise that the dining room looks as though it belongs inside a royal palace. At the heart of the room stands a long, dark-wood table, with the seemingly customary chandelier hanging above it. Light from outside floods through the stained-glass windows.

The kitchen

This dining room links up with the kitchen, which has been described by Insider as “chef-quality.” As with seemingly every other room in the house, we have dark wood and a chandelier in here, plus an island in the center of the room. What you can’t see, however, is the “hidden bar with hand-carved walls.”

Lavish bathroom

Even the bathrooms in the house are ostentatious. Perhaps the most lavish is the one decorated in gold and black, and equipped with plenty of enormous mirrors. The toilet itself is black, which is unusual, plus there’s a big tub to match. The color scheme is as dark as you’d expect from Von D.

Scarlet sensation

The other bathrooms throughout the property aren’t quite as extravagant as the black-and-gold one, but they’re still fancier than most. Among the smaller ones, there’s one with a bathtub made of copper. That room is definitely more understated than most of the others in the house, but you’d imagine it still cost quite a bit of money to assemble. There’s also one that can be lit up in a creepy blood-red!

The bedrooms

The house’s bedrooms, unsurprisingly, are quite out-there. One is decorated in the same black-and-gold way as the fancy bathroom, and it’s equipped with a platform which raises the big bed. We have dark-wood flooring, as always, and in terms of furniture there’s actually a chaise lounge upon which to recline.

Green room

One of the other bedrooms has a mint-green color scheme, though the ceiling is gold. The bed is an elaborate thing, with a canopy placed above it, from which curtains drape down to the ground. The walls have a polka-dot pattern and there’s a sort of lounge area by the window.

Shoe room

One space in the house is the stuff of dreams for fashionistas. It’s a dressing room, and it’s absolutely full of shoes. There must be hundreds of pairs in there, and that’s to say nothing of all the other items of clothing. You could probably get lost in that room for a long, long time.

The master bedroom

We haven’t even got to the master bedroom yet. As you’d expect, this is massive and fit for a king or queen. The enormous windows, reaching from the floor all the way up to the ceiling, are a highlight here. But there’s all the dark wood and fancy furnishings you might expect to find in this house, too.

The theater

One of the best rooms in the house definitely has to be the theater — really, how many other places have one? In here, a small audience can sit back and relax to observe whatever performance is happening upon the small stage. There’s enough room for music gigs, plays, or dance shows.

Outside

The inside of the mansion is definitely a reflection of Von D’s taste, but amazingly things only get more out-there when we step outside. A bunch of statues are standing around the yard, plus the gate leading into the property is incredibly elaborate. The house itself is painted an unusual burgundy.

After dark

We have manicured hedges outside, too, plus a very pleasant seating area. You can imagine how nice a BBQ out here would be, particularly when it got dark and all the lights had to be switched on. That would also give you an opportunity to really appreciate the pool, which is probably the most unusual feature of the whole house.

Pool of blood

The fact there’s a swimming pool is exciting enough, but Von D put her own spin on things and made it even more notable. Reflecting her general goth aesthetic, Von D arranged for this thing to be colored a blood-red. It looks like something from a horror movie: The Shining perhaps?

Pastures new

Despite all the money she’s pumped into this place, Von D is now leaving the mansion. But given that it’s on the market for $12.5 million, she should be okay. She purchased it for only around half that in the first place, so she’s unlikely to lose out on the deal. And she’ll probably make her next home as elaborate as this one anyway!